Trump signals deal with Mexico on asylum seekers

US President Donald Trump said Saturday that migrants seeking asylum in the United States via the southern border will wait in Mexico while their claims are moving through legal procedures, reports BSS/XINHUA.

“Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court,” he tweeted Saturday evening. “All will stay in Mexico.”

The president also renewed a threat to close the US-Mexico border “if for any reason it becomes necessary.”

The tweets came after The Washington Post reported earlier in the day that Mexico’s incoming government has agreed to support the US government’s plan to remake US asylum policy.

The newspaper said the plan, known as “Remain in Mexico”, would require those seeking refuge at the border to stay in Mexico while their cases are processed, potentially terminating the system, which Trump has decried as “Catch and Release” that has generally allowed asylum applicants to wait on US soil.

“For now, we have agreed to this policy of Remain in Mexico,” said Olga Sanchez Cordero, Mexico’s incoming interior minister, who will take office next month, while calling it a “short-term solution” in an interview with the US newspaper.

But her office later issued a statement saying: “There is no agreement of any type between the future federal government of Mexico and that of the United States of America.”

Meanwhile, Mexico’s incoming foreign minister has said discussions on how to deal with migrants travelling to the United States are continuing despite reports a deal has been reached, report agencies.

Marcelo Ebrard denied reaching an agreement which would see asylum seekers waiting in Mexico while their claims were processed in US courts.

He said migrants would not be allowed entry until their claims were approved.

“Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court,” Mr Trump wrote, adding: “No ‘releasing’ into the US. All will stay in Mexico.”

The conflicting statements emerged after the Washington Post reported Mexican officials had agreed to let migrants trying to enter the US stay in Mexico while their asylum claims were heard.

According to the newspaper, the plan was called “Remain in Mexico”.

But Mr Ebrard, who will become foreign minister in December after Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s administration takes power, said the US had yet to even send “a specific proposal” on how to deal with the issue.

He said conversations were still taking place with Washington.

Incoming Interior Minister Olga Sanchez Cordero also told news agency Reuters no agreement had been reached – although the Washington Post article initially quoted her as saying it was a “short term solution” to deal with the migrant caravan.

Thousands of migrants – including women and children – are currently at the US-Mexico border after travelling more than 4,000km (2,500 miles) from Central America.

They say they are fleeing persecution, poverty and violence in their home countries of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.

Many are now waiting in temporary shelters in the border city of Tijuana, leading the mayor declare a humanitarian crisis. There are fears as many as 9,000 may be stuck in the city for months.